"The American people will look to Congress and the administration to foster more American energy production," said Rep. Doc Hastings (R., Wash.), chair of the House of Representatives' Natural Resources Committee. "Unfortunately, the Obama administration has been responsible for a significant decline in domestic oil and natural gas from federal lands and waters."

Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), chair of the House's powerful energy committee, said earlier this week that Republicans are likely to hold hearings on the administration's new five-year drilling plan, which prevents oil companies from accessing certain parts of federal waters for the next six years.

"We've got problems ahead of us that we've got to be prepared for," Mr. Upton told reporters Tuesday, during a lunch hosted by the American Petroleum Institute.

Oh did you know that during the first two years of President George W. Bush's term in office, gas prices fell 8 percent? They have gone up 55 percent in the first two years of Obama's term.

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